Thursday, December 28, 2006

Just came back from an overnight outing in Hidden Valley, a secluded mountain resort in Alaminos Laguna. The place is blessed with natural scenery from water to trees to flowers. only 2 hours drive away from the hustle and bustle of Manila. Nothing extra-ordinary about the resort food the place offers a great deal of relaxation.

Hidden valley is enclosed by rich forest. There are series of mineral spring pools which water vary in temperature from warm to cold, and yes water are constantly flowing from mountaintop.

.…I'm missing the fresh air.

Tropical gardens and pure crystalline water preserved as Maria Makiling would have it.

Hidden Valley is a secluded spot wedged between two mystical mountains rich in folklores. It is a place blessed with nature's invigorating gifts of water, flowers, trees, and inspiring scenery.

Only an hour's drive from Manila, Hidden Valley is a tourist destination for a day or overnight stay. It provides first class hotel accommodations, local and international foods, and endless opportunities for a peaceful relaxation

Its main feature is a body of waterfalls, natural spring and pools. Be ready to dip in the cool waters, constantly flowing from the mountaintop, said to be rainfall accumulated through the years. There is also a warm, natural spring pool and a soda pool. Swim in all or take your pick.Or if you just want to be left alone, you can get lost in the awesome beauty and stillness of the surrounding greenery, wild flowers, and century-old trees

Hidden Valley is place where time stops and Nature provides a relaxing show

Laguna, already known for its verdant forest and natural springs, have become even more famous with Hidden Valley spring, a rustic resort, nestled among the mountains of Calauan

Located some 75 kilometers South of Manila, the Valley brings refreshingly modern changes as well as quaint touch of the past. Hidden Valley Springs Resort is a mere one and a half hour drive from Manila, snaking to Calauan, via Alaminos, Laguna, just behind Mount Makiling.

A natural wonderland, Hidden Valley sprawls along 10 hectares of a well-preserved rainforest area ablaze with tall waters. It is managed by the Valley Resort Corporation under a contract with the Heirs of Eugenia V. Roxas, Inc

Stories have it that the Valley was once a volcanic crater. No wonder the cocoa trees, the coconuts and the lanzones planted blossomed as though the Valley had been their habitat for centuries. Its lanzones remain the sweetest in the whole of Laguna.

Hidden Valley is a mountain resort sunk about 1,000 feet below sea level and harbors rare plants and animals. Eons ago, geologists believe, the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Makiling and Mt. Banahaw created subterranean caverns around these now extinct volcanoes. The area around Laguna is pock-marked with such caverns, although many of the depressions are filled with water. Because of the empty spaces, the earth above which, in due time, became covered with vegetation. The forest and their fauna thrived, untouched by typhoons that yearly visited the area. In the middle of one of these depressions in Calauan, a small waterfall was born, while several streams, with waters clear enough for drinking, fed several man-made pools.

Lovers Pool

lA more secluded area is a Lover's Pool where one imagines with a touch of malice and envy, interesting interactions. It is so concealed, you could unwittingly pass by it without knowing that you have missed it. Its pools can be reached by carefully treading your way down a narrow trail nearly one half kilometer long. It is hidden because it used to be a copper mine with a deep shaft which, after being abandoned, was left to the hundred of bats who found refuge in it during the day. The privacy it offers is the honeymooners' dream come true

The Valley is pleasantly warm nearly through out the year its high mountains’ protecting it from harsh stormy weathers. These same mountains serve as natural barriers to the direct heat of the noonday sun. That is why during the day, it is all right to romp around in your bare feet and hike to the valley's main features. Being a valley it is a perennially cool place during the day and almost cold at night

Sada Pool

The Soda pool is so called because when the water was tested, it was found comparable to the Vicki and Fuji Waters of Japan. The massage springs, the coolest among the pools, have a forceful flow, one only need to get underneath the water to get a massage no different from the European spas. The twin springs give you a choice between cool and warm water

But being so close together, you do not really have to choose. You can just bounce from one pool to the other with no problem at all.

"A place where time stops and nature puts on a relaxing show"

Amlang Tree

Then there are fascinating Amlang trees, tall and massive with trunks that seem almost to have been chopped off. A faded marker in one such tree notes that during Spanish times the trees in the vicinity have been cut for wood. Eventually, on believes a reminder to preserve nature.

It is a tribute to the resort's developers that despite the presence of amenities like the Gazebo, pools, picnic groves, chapel, function room, camping grounds and first class rooms and cottages; the natural beauty of the lush surrounding has been preserved.

A natural wonderland, Hidden Valley sprawls along 10 hectares of a well-preserved rainforest area ablaze with tall trees, flowers and plants and surrounded by hot and cold spring water.

Laguna, already know for its verdant forest and natural springs, have become even more famous with Hidden Valley Springs, a rustic resort, nestled among the mountains of Calauan.

Located some 75 kilometers South of Manila, the Valley brings refreshingly modern changes as well as quaint touch of the past. Hidden Valley Springs resort is a mere one and a half hour drive from Manila, snaking to Calauan via Alaminos, Laguna, just behind Mount Makiling.